Islam

Islam is an Arabic word which means complete submission to the will of God. According to this religion, 'god' is one and is omnipresent. The followers of this monotheistic faith cohere to the literatim of 'Allah' as enounced by the Quran. Much of the pedagogies of Islam have been forwarded by prophets like Adam, Musa, Abraham, Yunus and not to forget the greatest and the last Prophet of Islam, Muhammed, at some point in history. Although, Prophet Muhammad is popularly deemed as the founder of this religion, Quran states otherwise. According to this holy book, Islam is a primordial faith that follows the same teaching as forwarded by Adam to his children. The followers of Islam, better known as Muslims, worship Quran as the final revelation of God. The religion rests itself on the five pillars of Islam namely, 'shahada' (creed), 'salat' (daily prayers), 'swam' (fasting), 'zakat' (almsgiving), and 'hajj' (pilgrimage to Mecca). These five basic acts in Islam cover almost every part of life and are compulsory for every Muslim.

Founder
Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah', the leader of humankind and the last prophet of Islam, was born in 570 A.D. at Mecca (now in Saudi Arabia). Apart from being a prophet, Muhammad was a philosopher, merchant, diplomat, orator, legislator, reformer, and a military general. According to the Islamic beliefs, Muhammad received his first message from the God in the month of Ramzan following which he started preaching the lessons of god to the common people. However, he and his followers were treated badly in Mecca. Nevertheless, he continued to propagate the teachings of Islam until his death propagated among the tribes of Arabia. Muhammad died in the year 632.

Brief History
The evolution of Islam can be traced back to the 7th century in Saudi Arabia. In 610 A.D. Prophet Muhammed (circa 570-632 A.D.) introduced Islam as a religion. However, Quran states that Islam had existed even before Prophet Muhammed popularized it. Prophet Muhammed was just one of the messengers of 'Allah' sent to deliver the teachings of god to the entire human race.

Current Status
After the death of Prophet Muhammed, Muslims got divided into following two categories:Shia: The followers have firm belief in religious and political guidance of Imams, who are said to be the descendants of Ali ibnAbiTalib, who is considered as the successor of Prophet Muhammad.

Sunni: Sunni Muslims forms the largest community and they are motivated to follow the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad. In today's time, Muslims forms the majority across the world and live in the countries such as in India, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South East Asia, Iran, Turkey, China, Soviet Union, Latin America, Australia and United States.

In Islam, the marriage is conducted by putting a veil between both the bride and the groom. Hence, they are not allowed to see each other at the time of marriage.

Pilgrimages
There is no dearth of sacred places for the Muslims. The Kabba in Mecca is believed to be the most sacred place for the Muslims. The Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina, which is the burial chamber of Prophet Muhammad, is the second most sanctified place for the Muslims in the world. Apart from this, places like Jerusalem, Karbala, Najaf and Mashhad (Iran) are deemed as pilgrimage destinations for Muslims. In India, the sacred places of Muslims are Ajmer Sharif, the tomb of Hazrat Mu'inuddin Chishti, Jama Masjid in New Delhi, Fatehpur Sikri, Haji Ali, the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, Qutub Minar, the Quwwat-ul-Islam and the Charminar.